Expanded metal structure.



No. 689,938. Patented Dec. 3|, I90]; 6. B. WHITE.

EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURE.

(Application filed Mar. 6, 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNTTnn STATES PATENT @rricn.

CLARENCE B. \VHITE, OF NEIV Y RK, N. Y.

EXPANDED METAL STRUCTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,988, dated December 31, 1901.

Application filed March 8,1901. Serial No. 50,308. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLARENCE B. WHITE, a resident of the city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expanded Metal Structures, of which the following is a description, referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to slitted and expanded sheet-metal structures useful for various purposes-such as laths for walls,fioors, partitions, &c.

The patents 'to H. E. IVhite and G. B. White,Nos. 668,669 and 670,827,show various forms ofexpanded sheet-metal structures and a machine for expanding them.

The present invention is an improvement on the invention described in my application filed June 23, 1900, Serial No. 21,312, and patented March 26, 1901, No. 670,827, for a sheet-metal structure expanded perpendicularly or transversely to the general plane of the structure. Its object is to improve the strength and extend the usefulness of such structures.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of the novel structure. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the plane 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the structure, and Fig. 4 is acrosssection of a form of the invention having several slatted sections.

In my application, Serial No. 21,312, filed June 23, 1900, the expanded metal lath is shown and described as being formed from a slitted sheet of metal, alternate ribs being forced out of the plane of the other ribs, so that the expansion of the structure gives a thick open-work formation instead of expanding the sheet superficially, as described in the other patents which I have referred to above.

The present invention differs from that shown in my earlier applications in that the slats s .9 (see Fig. 3) are set diagonally, so as to cross like the braces of a truss or lattice-work girder when they are viewed in side view, as in Fig. 3. In the structure of my said patent alternate ribs are placed in such position that the slats may all lie in parallel planes. Under the present improvement, however, alternate ribs 1 and r are placed longitudinally to cause the slats in one section to lie in planes inclined to the planes of the slats of the next section, there by producing the crossed effect seen in Fig. 3. It must be remembered, however, that in embodying the invention it is not essential that the slitting of neighboring sections should be reversely oblique instead of parallel, such differences being known in the art and set forth in the Letters Patent I have re ferred to above.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the ribs are marked, respectively, r r r" and the slats s and s. The ribs are so placed that the slats 8 instead of all being parallel when viewed as in Fig. 3 extend obliquely across, as plainly shown in the figures. As a result of this improvement the rib 0" cannot be forced toward the ribs 1 and r by the mere holding down of the slats s 8 into their original shape as they lie in the slitted sheet of metal from which the construction was formed. A weight, such as w in Fig. 8, can only crush the structure by the buckling of one at least of the respective series of slats s and 8. Therefore a truss-like structure is formed embodying the same principles of operation as are embodied in a lattice-work girder or a Hall truss. A forceas, for instance, a weight wacting downward is resolved into two forcesfandf, which act along the slats s and s, respectively. The oblique position of the slats prevents endwise movement of the rib 1" under the action of the weight. In either direction great strength results. Moreover, when such a structure is embedded in a body of plaster, cement, or concrete, so that displacement of any of the ribs or slats is prevented, a complete structure of metal and embedding plaster, cement, or concrete is created in which bending and crushing stresses are resisted by the tensile and compressive strength of the metal acting in a most favorable manner.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 only two slatted sections with three ribs are shown. This may be regarded as one of the'simplest embodiments of the invention, and it may be used as a brace or support on which to secure thin metallic lathing. It may be used as a metallic furring. In Fig. 4: it is shown that any number of sections of slats s and 3' may be employed, all preferably involving the same strength and same principles as described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, and 3. When made of suitably heavy metal, such structures are so strong that they may Well be used for ceilings, extending between I-beams, and plastered underneath to form the finished ceiling-surface, as is usual.

Having now explained the present invention and the principles of its operation and some of the valuable results obtained thereby, I claim as the novel and characteristic features of the invention the following:

1. An expanded metal structure for fireproof construction and other uses, having alternate slatted sections and ribs, some at least of the slats extending in a direction transverse to the general plane of the structure, the slats of some sections being inclined or CLARENCE B. WHITE.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY S. MORTON, CORNELIUS CAGNEY. 

